The preceding paragraph is not an indictment of application-oriented curricula per se, only of the particular way [N1] wants such a curriculum implemented: it allows the utilitarian impulse to overwhelm the basic ed- ucational mission, with the result that basic ideas and skills not directly related to the so-called real world problems often get left out. By yielding to the temptation of “doing just enough to get the problems solved”, the curriculum of [N1] ends up presenting a fragmented and amorphous version of mathematics. What the Standards should have done is to bring the idea of mathematical closure to the forefront. In other words, if certain tools are developed.
